Well, hello 2023, it’s nice to see you!

I never could have imagined how chaotic life as a published author would be. I kept rewriting this intro, wondering if I should apologize and commit to blogging more consistently. Then I decided that sometimes it’s best to pick up where you left off.

And where I left off was right around the US publication of The Circus Train. In an effort to try and bring some transparency to what can be an opaque industry, I’m going to try and write a few posts about what life is like for me as an author. Each writer is unique, but these are some snippets of my experience.

There have been a lot of heart-stopping moments on this journey. Signing my first book deal was one. Seeing all the different cover reveals was another. Getting quotes from authors I admire is one more. But by far, one of my biggest ‘pinch me’ moments was when my US editor informed me that The Circus Train was an official Book of the Month selection.

In this post, I’ll explain what Book of the Month is, share details of the magical day I spent at their New York headquarters, and answer some FAQs about the service.

The Book of the Month editions of my debut, The Circus Train

What is ‘Book of the Month’?

Book of the Month (also called BOTM) is a book subscription service. Customers get to choose one book that’s delivered to them from a curated selection each month.

The Book of the Month Club is one of the oldest book clubs in America. It was started in 1926 and helped launch the careers of Hemingway and Salinger. It relaunched in the 2000s under a new e-commerce model. Although they don’t reveal their user numbers, this article suggests their subscriber count is around 250K.

How my book was chosen for BOTM:

In the fall of 2022, I received an email from one of my US editors, Tara, telling me that The Circus Train had been selected as a Book of the Month choice. Embarrassingly enough, I didn’t know what BOTM was then. We didn’t have it in Canada at the time and I’m not very active on social media, where they have a huge following. I actually wrote back to her asking if I had to pay to be in it, that’s how clueless I was.

Tara wrote me back, explaining how it worked. In a nutshell, the BOTM editorial team reads through hundreds of books before they’re released, choosing five across varying genres for their monthly selections.

I was so excited to hear that my story resonated with the BOTM team. If anyone doesn’t yet know, The Circus Train was such a labour of love, one that I wasn’t sure would ever pay off. I didn’t have any massive fancy deals. I was the opposite of buzzworthy. Although I don’t base my happiness on external accolades, it warmed my heart to know they loved my novel enough to want to distribute it widely.

I happily gave Tara and the Penguin team the green light to proceed, signed another contract (more on that below) and then had to wait a few months before I could share widely.

Announcing The Circus Train as a BOTM selection:

On December 1st, 2022, the BOTM team announced The Circus Train as one of their five December selections.

Book of the Month’s Instagram post (image credit: Book of the Month)

When the post went live on Instagram, I was sitting in a library researching my second novel. I remember my stomach feeling like a rollercoaster as I pulled together a post to share on my own account. One thing I struggle with is self-promotion. It feels unnatural for me to shout about my achievements. But it’s also a part of my job, so I’m doing my best to find ways to make it more comfortable. With anything I share, I strive to do it from a place of genuine appreciation and value.

I’m fortunate to have a supportive online community and received some lovely messages of congratulations. An author I’ve read and loved for a long time, Kristin Harmel, was kind enough to write the blurb for the app (apologies for the grainy screenshot):

The lovely blurb Kirstin Harmel wrote for my book

Kristin’s latest novel is The Paris Daughter. She’s an incredibly talented writer and one of the kindest people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know, so please do check out more of her work.

Now that the news was out, it was time to prep for the interview.

My Book of the Month interview:

Book of the Month runs a podcast called Virtual Book Tour. The hosts, Brianna and Jerrod, are funny, intelligent and engaging and I love listening to the show (although because the BOTM name isn’t referenced in the title, I didn’t make the connection with the podcast and company until after my novel was chosen).

Once my book was confirmed, I reached out to my publicist and asked if I could be on the show. The Book of the Month headquarters are in New York City. I reasoned that Toronto wasn’t that far, so if I could get myself there, would they be open to having me as a guest? They were very receptive to this idea and so I booked a flight and an Airbnb in the Big Apple.

I want to be explicit about money here: no one paid for me to go to New York. To my knowledge, authors aren’t usually paid to fly into cities and appear on shows, or even go on tour, unless they are very well-known and have a history of driving massive sales. I did this on my own dime and it was one of the best decisions I made. I’d spent 8.5 years writing and editing a book at that point.

I recognize that not everyone is as fortunate as I am to even have the funds to take a trip to another city, but it’s not like I didn’t work for what I have. I’ve always held down full-time work in the technology field alongside my fiction writing. Plus, I’d picked up some freelance coding and writing contracts over the pandemic and saved up. No one supports me but me. I think it’s important to celebrate our dreams when they finally become a reality, and I was determined to live it up in one of my favourite places in the world.

Pre-interview prep:

Firmly settled in my midtown rental in NYC, I woke up the day of the taping with butterflies in my stomach. I was giddy with excitement, but I was also nervous. Public speaking is difficult for me, so I do my best to rehearse a lot before any event. I re-listened to every episode of the show and practiced answering questions I had a feeling they’d ask.

I started my day off with a class at CorePower Yoga (such an amazing studio, definitely recommend taking a class!)

Early morning Corepower yoga class - the best!!!

I followed that up with coffee, but I was so nervous I couldn’t eat anything. Up until that point, my mornings in NY consisted of me stuffing my face with gigantic bagels slathered in cream cheese and huge cups of joe, but that morning, I could only manage the latter.

After I wrapped up work, I had to run around doing a few errands and then I headed down to a coffee shop to meet my publicist, Nicole, and one of my editors, Ashley. I was trying to decide what to drink when I realized my stomach was growling. I’d been so worried about talking to a live audience, I still hadn’t eaten anything. Nicole kindly bought me some yogurt and fruit along with a latte and we all chatted for a bit before heading over to the BOTM office.

Virtual Book Tour podcast taping

When we walked into the office, I felt like a celebrity. Please understand that I spend a lot of time sitting behind a computer, talking to pretend characters I make up in my head. The fact that I had just walked into a gorgeous office in Manhattan wearing a cocktail dress was like something out a movie.

The first thing I saw was the BOTM versions of my book they’d placed in the foyer.

Upon entering the BOTM offices, I saw my book! As you can tell from this pic, there’s a reason I’m not a photographer.

Then I got to meet Brianna and Jerrod, who were just as charming in real life as I’d hoped. I left my things in one of the conference rooms and walked around. They’d set up a bunch of seats for the live recording (all of the BOTM employees are invited to watch and two of my friends came as well).

I screamed when I saw my books on display. I got TWO VERSIONS because the club had just launched a Canadian subscription service. The Canadian cover has a different cover to the US one. And because of the way rights sales work, they had to use the US cover for US subscribers and the Canadian cover for Canadian subscribers. So I got two copies of the BOTM edition.

The set-up for my Virtual Book Tour podcast taping. Look at those covers!

We took photos and videos for social media and then went back to wait for everyone to be seated. And then - it happened.

I already mentioned that I’d felt like a celebrity walking into the office, but when I walked out to a room full of music, lights and people clapping, it made my heart swell and my face turn bright red (I’m very, very shy). I just tried my best to fake it though, that was all I could do. Brianna, Jerrod and I took our seats at the front and had what was one of the most fun conversations I’ve ever had, about anything. We covered my novel, sports, family secrets, and so much more. You can listen to the full episode here.

With my US publicist, Nicole, and one of my US editors, Ashley

Post-taping celebration

The fun didn’t stop there. Jerrod ended the interview by saying they’d created a signature Circus Train cocktail. I was blown away by the thought and effort that went into it. They’d researched ingredients available during WW2 and fashioned a cocktail out of that.

As soon as the interview was done, I went to take a few more photos, chatted with my dear friends Max and Nicole who’d come to support me, and then started mingling and signing books. The BOTM team knows how to throw a party. Apart from drinks, they’d ordered lots of appetizer/charcuterie-type boards. I ate a lot of grapes and crackers in between signing copies of my novel. The staff were so much fun to speak with, they’d hired a really cool bartender as well, and I even got to meet the CEO.

Taking photos in the BOTM office after my taping — Smile!

After it was all over, I was riding a high, so I walked back to my Airbnb, beaming from ear to ear. I didn’t know how I was going to sleep; I’d just had a live interview in New York City and my book was going to be on sale across the whole of the United States the next morning. See what I mean about ‘pinch me’? But once I got home, a wave of exhaustion hit and I fell asleep pretty fast.

It’s been five months since this happened and it still stands out as one of my favourite moments in my author career. The Book of the Month team is wonderful and I’ll never forget what they did for my novel. It was like winning the lottery.

Here are a few more FAQs:

How much does Book of the Month cost?

In the US, I think it’s $14.99 (USD) a month to subscribe. In Canada, I believe it’s $26.99 (CAD) a month. Sometimes they have deals, so keep an eye on the app.

What’s the difference between buying a book from a retail store and buying it through Book of the Month?

In some cases, BOTM books are cheaper than retail. Especially if the book is a hardcover - I’ve noticed the BOTM versions tend to be a little cheaper. But bear in mind they are printed on different paper using different card stock, so the feel and look won’t be the same.

The other difference is you get a specific BOTM edition. They use the same cover artwork and obviously the story is the same - but as I said above, Book of the Month print their own editions. So, if you’re a regular subscriber, you’ll build up your own special library of BOTM editions pretty fast. They’re all the same size and look really nice lined up on a shelf.

The bag and BOTM editions of The Circus Train that the team sent me

Do Book of the Month authors get paid?

Yes, we do. The way it worked for me was through a sub-rights deal. My US publisher, Penguin Random House (G.P. Putnam to be exact), bought the English language rights for US publication. This meant that if anyone else wanted to publish it in English in the US, they would have to go through them and buy the ‘right’ to do so, which is exactly what happened. BOTM bought the rights to print their own copies.

It worked in a similar way to most book deals. I got an advance, but the only difference was that it was split 50/50 between me and Penguin Random House. And then I paid 20% of my share to my agent, and I always put aside a huge chunk for taxes. Oh and I also think it’s worth sharing that this deal closed in October 2022, but I didn’t get my advance payment until the end of May 2023 (and that’s actually considered fast). Publishing payments take FOREVER.

Apart from the opportunity to earn a little bit more from a book you already wrote, the fact that BOTM has such a huge presence on social media is priceless. I’ve seen the BOTM versions tagged more than any other version (and I think there are something like 17) and people keep sharing it, even five months after it was chosen.

Is Book of the Month available in other countries?

In addition to the US, I think it’s only available in Canada (excluding Quebec).

I hope this post was useful for any aspiring authors and/or bookworms and BOTM subscribers. I often see questions about the service online. This program really changed the trajectory of my US sales and I will be forever grateful for it. If anyone has any other questions about BOTM, feel free to contact me.

Make The Circus Train your Book of the Month pick (this link may not work if you aren’t signed up. You don’t have to pay to sign up, but I am not sure if you can see all the books unless you sign up for the app.)
Listen to the latest episodes of Virtual Book Tour.

A Day in the Life of a ‘Book of the Month’ Author